Tremors shook the Earth, issuing a warning to Sinagua people living nearby. Then, just over nine hundred and thirty years ago, a blink of an eye on the geologic time scale, Sunset Crater Volcano rumbled to life. Fiery lava spewed up from a central vent, drawing molten rock from ten kilometers beneath the surface. Fountains of glowing liquid lava rose hundreds of meters into the air, falling to Earth as cinders.
Remarkably well-preserved evidence of Sunset Crater Volcanos sudden birth is now protected in the National Monument. We would love to share it with you! Come explore our colorful cinder cone on a virtual field trip. We will take you along a trail that winds across one of the frozen rivers of lava that gushed from Sunset Crater Volcanos rocky flanks. While you're visiting, why not step into our visitor center to see our seismograph record of Arizonas earthquakes? Are you looking for 'just the facts'? Click on the Sunset Volcano button to get the details you're looking for.